Russia cleans up after meteor explosion

VIENNA: The United Nations has called for the formation of an international network to monitor the threat posed by asteroids and other near-Earth objects.

Experts from the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs who met in Vienna on Wednesday said they were drafting a proposal for such a co-ordinated response and were establishing two working groups to consider defences against large objects that could hit the Earth.

‘‘We need to do a better job in preparing ourselves for that,’’ said Lindley Johnson, who heads the near-Earth objects program at the US space agency NASA.

The meteor heads towards the ground.

The hazards of large space objects were brought into focus by last week’s meteor strike in Russia and asteroid near-miss.

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The meteor over Russia was estimated at 15 metres in diameter, but the UN body is preparing for objects bigger than 1 kilometre, which would have global consequences if they were to strike.

There was no risk of this happening in the next 100 years, the UN experts said. Nevertheless, the planned new network and expert groups would assess threats and inform countries about possible defence scenarios, the UN office’s expert Sergio Camacho said.

The Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant building was damaged when a meteorite passed over the city last week. Photo: Reuters

Scientists have been studying the possibility of hitting asteroids with rockets to change their flight path, or to blast them with a nuclear bomb as a last resort.

The UN body is also aiming to educate the public about what to do in case smaller objects enter the atmosphere.

Mr Johnson said people needed knowledge about such phenomena, just as most people know to retreat from a tsunami.

Employees try to fix windows of a maternity ward which was damaged by a shockwave from a meteorite. Photo: Reuters

‘‘When you see a white flash and a large [condensation] trail in the sky it’s probably not a good time to stand at the window and look at it, because it may be a blast coming,’’ he said.